Electrical connectors of the above type are already known, e.g. from Document FR-A-2 622 361 in the name of the present Applicant.
The current-passing capacity offered by each contact ring is a function, in particular, of its geometrical shape and of the number of points of contact that it provides with the two surfaces between which it is interposed. For a given diameter of connector pin and socket, and thus for a given diameter of ring, it is conventional to make the connector suitable for withstanding currents higher than those normally expected for a single ring by increasing the number of rings, with the rings being placed one after another.
Naturally, in order to enable an appropriate number of rings to be installed, such an arrangement increases the length of the pin and of the socket, and thus the overall length of the connector. This increase in length leads to a corresponding increase in the volume of metal constituting the connector and thus to an increase in its weight and in its cost. This is not acceptable in certain applications (e.g. aviation or space applications) in which constraints on weight and on bulk are particularly severe.
In addition, from the electrical point of view, such an arrangement of rings one after the other is particularly unfavorable. In particular when passing alternating currents, the contacts (the socket and the pin) and the contact rings are subjected to large electrodynamic forces that may move the contacts out-of-true. While being moved out-of-true, the rings are subjected to radial deformation (on one side the points of contact are crushed with a considerable increase in contact area and a considerable reduction in current density at each point of contact, while on the diametrically opposite other side the points of contact are mechanically de-stressed with a significant reduction in contact area and an increase in the current density at each point of contact). Such deformation takes place simultaneously and in the same direction for all of the rings, thereby giving rise to operating conditions that are not favorable for the connector.
An essential object of the invention is to remedy these drawbacks by providing an improved arrangement for a connector having a plurality of contact rings, thereby obtaining a connector that is more compact, lighter in weight, and possibly less expensive than the connectors presently in use, and which, in addition, provides electrical operation that is more satisfactory and more reliable.